ALPHADROME ROBOT AND SPACE TOY DATABASE

ASTRO SQUIRTER - KILGORE - HONG KONGStocky transparent plastic space water pistol with telescopic sight. The barrel has rings and a distinctive cross pattern of fins around the muzzle. Bagged with header card. Similar in styling to the Rex Mars Planet Patrol Pistol. Made in Hong Kong for the US Kilgore company. Item 2012. Dated 1974.

This is the same design as the Mak's Mars No 288 Space Water Gun

MARS NO 288 SPACE WATER GUN - MAKS - HONG KONGStocky metallic blue plastic space water pistol with telescopic sight. The barrel has rings and a distinctive cross pattern of fins around the muzzle. Bagged with header card. Similar in styling to the Geobra water pistol (with the distinctive larger sight and square trigger guard), which in turn is based on the Rex Mars Planet Patrol Pistol. Mak's. Blue, green and red versions.

The cylindrical body has an angled stock. Rings surround the barrel and the back of the gun. A short cone shaped telescopic sight is mounted on top. There is a clear plastic lens housing at the front. Red and green lens filters are also included to alter the color of the beam. The gun also makes a click noise. Available in a range of colors. This is a mold used for a range of space guns. 8" 20cm
flashlight

A patent for the design was filed in 1952 and issued in 1953. Pat no. 169440

REX MARS PLANET PATROL PLAYSET - MARX - USAFollowing on from the success of the Tom Corbett playset in 1952, Marx released a playset for their own space hero creation, Rex Mars. The set consists of 110 pieces and is based on a lithographed tinplate control center with surrounding tin walls.

The set first appeared in October 1953.

REX MARS PLANET PATROL RIFLE X-92 - MARX - USAAt 20 inches long the Rex Mars Planet Patrol Space Gun is a fair size as rifles/machine guns go. The piece consists of a sheet of brightly lithographed tin, rolled into a semi-tube shape, and attached to a plastic butt and barrel assembly. This gun has been recycled excessively throughout the 1950's, it was used with slight litho changes for the Tom Corbett Space Cadet Gun, and the Rex Mars Planet Patrol Space Gun as well as an earlier G-Man type machine gun. Versions exist with various combinations of red, blue and yellow plastic components.

The plastic is held in place with a fragile set of pins that extend through the tin and are melted into rivets, these are almost always broken off. The barrel is a clockwork sparkler housed in a plastic casing, the key is frequently missing, while the cheap plastic, is temperature sensitive and the end of the barrel is most often badly warped into a sad droopy affair. The generating coils on top of the gun, a futuristic touch, rust easily and will crush into the gun if dropped. X-92.

REX MARS PLANET PATROL SPARKLING PISTOL - MARX - USAA hard transparent plastic space gun. The gun has a classic shape with with rings on the barrel, fins on the muzzle and lines on the body. A small telescopic sight is mounted at the back. The gun has a wind up key fitted to the side. Wind up friction spark and noise action. Colors: blue, green and red.

On sale December 1953.

REX MARS PLANET PATROL SPARKLING SPACE TANK - MARX - USA1950s large tinplate wind up tank. Driver emerges from inside. The pressing is a reworking of an earlier military toy (a series of "doughboy" tanks with a similar action) - shown below. The addition of a space litho makeover turns an old style toy into something more futuristic. USA X-1. Rex Mars is the in house (license free) space hero created by the Louis Marx company. Widely on sale in late 1953.

REX MARS ROCKET FIGHTER SHIP - MARX - GREAT BRITAINThis is a lithographed tinplate rocket based on the original Buck Rogers design. Rex Mars was a Marx in-house royalty free space hero. The design is a direct copy of the American 1951 Rocket Fighter with the addition of Rex Mars wording on the nose. This was produced at the Marx factory in Swansea, Wales, for the British maket. 12" long with a wind up mechanism, sparking action in the tail section and a clicking noise as it moves. C1951 England

SPACE SQUIRT GUN - MAKER?A small hard plastic space water squirt gun with rubber bulb. 8.2cm long. The gun has a design based on the Rex Mars Planet Patrol by Marx. Details?

SPACEMEN, REX MARS STYLE - MAKER? - ARGENTINAA boxed set of eight painted soft plastic figures, one is a spacewoman. The small figures have very flimsy clear plastic space helmets. They are mounted in a window box with a small plastic spaceship fixed behind them. Different sets have different spaceships. These are copies of the Rex Mars figures by Marx.

There is no indication on either the figures or the box of a manufacturer, but they originate from Argentina.

TERRE MARS AND SPACEMEN - REX JOUETS - FRANCEHard plastic spaceship. This is a close copy of the Tudor Rose Space Flyer, which in turn is related to the Pyro X-100. The nose of the spaceship differs from the Tudor Rose version. The spaceship has a distinctive long plastic tail. Made in a range of colors.

The hard plastic grey spaceship was sold on a card with a set of four slender, smitranslucent hard plastic Rex Jouets space figures. Each comes with a clear plastic helmet. Marked Depose. It is interesting to note that though these figures are original designs, not copies of earlier figures, they still retain the four poses of the Tudor Rose group.

TOM CORBETT SPACE GUN - MARX - USALarge 20 inch lithographed tin and plastic space rifle with multiple actions. Sparking action. This multicolore rifle has a yellow plastic front end with a red plastic muzzle and a blue plastic stock. The body of the gun is brightly lithographed tin. A spring mechanism is mounted on top. The litho includes the name Tom Corbett Space Cadet and the serial number 1507-A.

This gun was recycled throughout the 1950's, it was used with slight litho changes for the Tom Corbett Space Cadet Gun, and the Rex Mars Planet Patrol Space Gun as well as an earlier G-Man type machine gun. Two box versions are known: the official Tom Corbett box and a G-Man box with a Tom Corbett stamp crudely added. Widely advertised in 1952. Gangster crossover.

WASSERSPRITZPISTOLE SPACE WATER PISTOL - GEOBRA - W GERMANYA transparent plastic space water pistol. This gun is based on the Rex Mars Planet Patrol by Marx. It also has features seen on the Mars water gun by Mak's, H.K. The gun has a classic shape with with rings on the barrel, fins on the muzzle and lines on the body. A streamlined telescopic sight is mounted at the back. The gun has a small working compass on one side of the handle and is marked Geobra on the other side. Sold carded (picture, anyone).

Note the square trigger guard, the larger sight and the compass, all of which distinguish it from the earlier Marx version which has a rounded trigger guard, smaller sight and no compass.

This gun features in the Geobra 1957 catalog. It was also on sale as late as 1963-4 in the Hullinghorts Spielzeug catalog.